NEW YORK—After a one-sided series in 2015, the New York Red Bulls and New York City FC are ready to hit the reset button on their blossoming rivalry.
Not that the Red Bulls and their fans will soon forget the three-game sweep of their fellow New Yorkers last year. Itās just that when the ball starts rolling on Saturday at Yankee Stadium (3 pm ET, FOX), RBNYās perfect start in the derby will go out the window.
āLast year has absolutely no bearing on whatās going to happen on the field this year,ā said Red Bulls captain Dax McCarty, ahead of Saturdayās clash. āI think if anything, it gives them the motivation to come out and play well, especially with the first game being at Yankee Stadium.ā
Red Bulls forward Bradley Wright-Phillips agreed with his teammate, noting, āTheyāve upped their game, itās going to be a much tougher test come Saturday. With us beating them three times last year, if Iām on that team I would be absolutely livid. I couldnāt wait to get back out there and play us, so itās going to be so much more difficult, and we have to be ready for that.ā
The Red Bulls were full of praise for what their rivals have been able to do in recent weeks, bouncing back from a slow start to go 3-0-2 in their last five games and rise to the top of the Eastern Conference, where McCarty said āthey deserve to beā based on their recent play.
RBNY have experienced a similar turnaround, rebounding from a 1-6 start to go 3-1-1 in their last five games and move themselves back into a playoff spot with a third of the season gone.
āWe feel like weāre starting to get the momentum rolling,ā said Red Bulls head coach Jesse Marsch. āWe know the hard workās not done yet, but we do feel like weāre starting to turn the corner and certainly thereās no better way to put it to the test than a game like Saturday.ā
Having hosted two of the three derby games last year, the Red Bulls will now have to start the series at Yankee Stadium and play another game there on July 3 before hosting NYCFC at Red Bull Arena on July 24 in the teamsā final regular-season match-up of the year. However, Marsch sees some advantages to his team playing on the Yankee Stadium, even if the vast majority of fans there will be rooting against his team.
āIt sets up for a fast game, a combative game, one that we like. We actually think the small field in many ways favors our style of play,ā Marsch explained. āThe atmosphere at Yankee Stadium – itās a little awkward because youāre situated in the stadium, kind of catawampus, so itās hard to understand the lines sometimes, your space. But when that stadium gets filled, thereās so much energy and it really makes for an exciting match.ā
And though players and coaches from both sides are excited for the spectacle ahead, the scheduling around the first New York Derby did provide a talking point for the players as they discussed their preparation for the game. McCarty questioned the wisdom of scheduling such a high-profile game on a Saturday after both teams had played Wednesday, including a second road game in four days for NYCFC.
His teammate, Felipe, was less concerned.
āItās always the right time to play a game like this,ā he said with a smile. āItās always the right time to play against New York City and no matter if itās Sunday, Saturday, Friday, Thursday, weāre always going to be ready to play against them.ā